Living Room Ideas
For Lively Spaces

Living room corner with window, sofa and chair.

Living room ideas for lively spaces. It's ironic, but living rooms are usually the deadest rooms in the house. The kids are afraid to go in there because Mom will yell at them to be careful of that rug or not bang up against that table.

There are ways to use the living room without destroying it, really. The key is room decor that creates places to do things.

These living room ideas for lively spaces can help bring life - and living - back into the living room.

Living Room Ideas for Lively Spaces - Creating a Room Within a Room

Living room with small game area inside.

Create activity areas within that encourage living, such as a game table.

Living room ideas for lively spaces include creating little "rooms" within the larger one by making small, intimate areas with living room furniture placement.

Pull the couches and chairs off the wall, anchor them with an area rug, add a table or two, and voila! You've got a little room within the big room.

Put a couple of chairs over by the fireplace, connect them with another rug, and add a table with a lamp. Voila! You have room number two.

Living Room Ideas For Lively Spaces: Create Activity Areas

You can also visually divide room decor to create activity areas. Set up a small table and a couple of chairs in one corner for gems, crafts, and puzzles. Put a skirt on the table, and you can tuck the games out of sight underneath.

Make a little reading corner with a cozy chair, afghan, table, light, and a shelf or drawer for books, papers, and glasses. In another corner, put a stain-resistant rug under a chest of toys to create a play area.

Place a cozy overstuffed chair next to the piano, station a book, and sew alongside in a basket. Now, you can attend your daughter's daily piano practice.

Often, kids are okay with practicing as much when they have company (or an audience). You can work on your sewing, reading, or correspondence to multitask as usual.

Other tricks? Soft, indirect lighting makes a room feel warmer. Avoid stark white paint on walls, go for warmer tones.

Living Room Ideas for Lively Spaces - Adding Life to the Room

If your kids are past the toddler stage, add some life and more visual settings with large potted plants.

The next time you buy furniture, consider recliners or swivel rockers instead of couches and loveseats. Big, fat chairs are cozy and more accessible to arrange in small informal groupings.

Finally, remember that living rooms are actual rooms and need all the accessories necessary in other rooms.

Many of us don't have wastebaskets in this room. If you want to keep the place tidy, encourage, don't discourage, kids to throw away the trash.

If you've got little ones, hide a roll of paper towels and some wipes somewhere in the room for those inevitable messes.

And if you don't want the dog on the furniture, place a pillow or dog bed on the floor for him so he can be with the rest of the family while keeping his fur relatively confined to his bedding.